A RCAF Boeing 247 parked on the ice at Nisutlin Bay near Teslin. The engines are covered in canvas to retain warmth. (view more details)

Between 1920 and 1939 civilian air travel developed rapidly in the Yukon. The period was one of intense growth in aviation in the rest of the country as well; Canada was the largest carrier of air freight in the world by the mid 1930s.

In the Yukon, many pilots bought their own planes in the early 1920s and were hired to transport people and freight to remote areas in the North. Traders, trappers and prospectors were the first to use these enterprising pilots’ services. There were no radio communications or regular weather reports and few landing fields during the early days. The intrepid bush pilots maintained their own aircraft. Flying at this time was not possible in spring or fall when the ice on rivers and lakes was breaking up or forming.

Yukon Southern Air Transport’s Custom Waco CF-BBP loading up at the Whitehorse Airport to take supplies to Moose Lake. ca. 1937-1940. (view more details)